On the Move: Mayor Parker shares her Houston relocation insights

Published 4:13 pm, Friday, August 8, 2014

Mayor Parker said that downtown Houston, which once was considered the center of gravity for Houston, is now sharing that space with several other areas.

Mayor Parker said that downtown Houston, which once was considered the center of gravity for Houston, is now sharing that space with several other areas.

On the Move: Mayor Parker shares her Houston relocation insights

1 / 1

Back to Gallery

In a recent interview, Mayor Annise Parker shared her candid comments on Houston and the impact that major relocations such as ExxonMobil are having on the region.

Parker said that while Houston is seeing large relocation numbers from outside of Houston, that there is also significant relocation activity occurring internally.

"We have to think about relocation from other parts of the United States and the world into Houston, and relocation within Houston, because both are going on and both are having impacts," she said.

The huge population growth Houston is experiencing has led to organic growth in all areas of the city, whether we are talking about the economy in general, job growth, building and development, transportation, schools, etc. Parker said this growth has led to various commercial nodes popping up throughout the region.

"One of the things that we're going to see is more of what is increasingly defining us as a really unique American city, and that is that we are a multinodal city," she said.

Parker said that downtown Houston, which was once considered the center of gravity for Houston, is now sharing that space with several other areas, which are developing like independent cities, each with their own central business core, surrounded by retail, and urban and suburban residential rings.

Trending Jobs Video

The Woodlands is a prime example of how this type of development has been taking place, and certainly ExxonMobil's relocation to Houston from other locations and the consolidation of its local satellite offices perpetuates that trend.

According to Parker, the home builders have answered the call in response to the commercial development in the area, and that retail has and continues to do the same thing.

"The good news is that it's really kept the entire Houston area vital with all of these commercial nodes, but it means that as a city we have to scramble to make sure that the infrastructure is available to support these unprecedented development patterns. So we have to make sure that the schools respond, and that's been a challenge for some of the ISDs as residential patterns have shifted over the years," she said.

Parker said these expansive growth patterns also have created challenges for Metro in making sure that people who are transit-dependent are able to get to their jobs.

"I think the new Metro reimagined bus plan is a phenomenal work of transportation engineering. It's creating as close to a grid system as you could possibly get, and that is the only thing that works in Houston. At the same time, we're going to make it easier to get around, and we have to, because as we develop these new commercial nodes with their residential rings, the labor force gets sometimes pushed farther and farther away from where they need to be doing the construction or post-construction jobs," she said.

With the constant influx of new business and residents into Houston, Parker emphasized the critical necessity for the city to have a general plan in place to support the expansive growth patterns.

"For the first time, we are trying to create a general plan for the city of Houston. Just because we don't do zoning, doesn't mean we shouldn't do planning."

While big moves such as ExxonMobil further solidify Houston's title as the energy capital of the world, Parker said that she would like to see more relocations into Houston from other business sectors.

"Clearly the big blockbuster moves over the last few years have been in the energy sector, with ExxonMobil topping the list. I'd like to see more and more from other sectors. We have one of the strongest manufacturing regions and a good, steady growth in manufacturing. I'd like to see more of the big blockbuster moves there," she said.

Parker also said that the city is working diligently to entice commercial space companies to Houston.

"We've been lobbying hard to hold onto the hundreds of millions of dollars of public investments in aerospace and NASA and our affiliated engineering community, and we've been working really hard to try to lure commercial space companies to Houston to take advantage of what's here. We have a great story to tell, but we could still do better in having a broader palette, which would be important going forward," she said.

As more and more companies eye Houston for possible relocations and expansions, Parker said that within her administration, she puts a great deal of emphasis on international growth and development.

"We are one of America's most international cities, and we already have significant strength in that area in our 90-plus foreign consulates. So, we have really worked to develop a larger international business presence here in Houston," she said.

Michelle Sandlin is a writer and relocation industry expert. She is the 2014 President of Houston Relocation Professionals (HRP), and is a speaker at various conferences and events locally and around the country. Follow Michelle on Facebook: www.facebook.com/HoustonRelocation and on Twitter: @MichelleSandlin. Also visit "On the Move - Exploring Houston Relocation with Michelle Sandlin" at blog.chron.com/onthemove. If you have something to share or contribute, please send an email to michelle.sandlin@me.com. Please look for another Michelle Sandlin "On the Move" relocation article in today's Homes section.